Winter Colds
by TheCorviter
Summary: A silly short fic, in which Jareth is sick and asks Sarah to take care of him. Part of the refrigerator series.
1. Chapter 1

The New England weather had lifted enough that Sarah was able to leave her apartment. Work being canceled due to the ongoing blizzard, she had nothing better to do but wait it out. Not that she had been bored. Her cat, JC, kept her busy with demands for pets and plenty of lap snuggles.

And then there was Jareth and his goblins. They put her whole life out of whack, especially nowadays. Ever since his denizens took up living in her refrigerator, well things changed exponentially between the two of them.

Theirs was an odd friendship. He made it no secret that he had set his sights on her ages ago, but she refused, resisted, and finally relented, to his incessant requests for a date. The reason? They were arguing about his goblins inhabiting her fridge when her cat decided to attack his crotch.

She couldn't blame JC, really. He was only 6 months old at the time- barely 8 pounds, and didn't know any better.

Sarah gave an evil smirk. Imagine having 8 pounds of fur, fangs, and claws attached to… down there. It probably hurt him a lot. Served him right though! Strutting around in those pants- leaving nothing to the imagination.

Jareth used the opportunity to get her to go out on a date with him. He most likely used her slight overindulgence in alcohol and resulting lowered guard to his advantage as well.

Instead of popping back to the Underground after their date, he gentlemanly offered to escort Sarah home. Which, of course, lead to a peck on the lips that, turned into a make out session, that turned into too much clothing, that ended in breakfast the next day.

"Hat…hat… where did it go?" Sarah dug through her closet. Even though the weather was better, she had no doubt that it was still murderously cold out. "Ah-ha!" She pulled one of her knit ones out of a box. It looked like it had been attacked by rabid moths. "Oy, goblins!" she yelled. One by one, 10 goblins, a little bigger than her hands, filed into her room looking nervous. Whenever someone yelled for them it was rarely good.

"Hope she doesn't bog us," one wearing a coat made out of an old sock said.

Sarah glared at the group. "What have I told you about eating my clothes?" she asked showing them the holey hat.

They looked amongst themselves slightly confused. A sparkly hat-socked one spoke up, "We didn't do that Lady."

"Yeah," another chimed in, "he did," pointing at the blonde cat sprawled out on Sarah's bed. JC had grown in size over the couple of months, and now topped the scale at 12 pounds. And with his larger size, he was able to reach things he hadn't been able to before.

She stalked over to her bed and playfully hit his paws with her ruined hat. "Did you do this, you silly boy?" He purred and tried catching it, but she lifted it out of his reach. The game continued until, she enlarged one of the holes with her hands and popped it over his head like a poncho. Sarah laughed at him and petted his spikey furred head. "Silly," she cooed.

JC oblivious as to why he was 'silly' curled up in his new poncho and went back to sleep.

"Guess I'll need a new hat." She turned towards the goblins to give them instructions. "Watch him, I'm going to the store, and should be back in an hour or so. Don't eat anything unless it's on the approved list (which was tapped to the inside of her fridge and consisted of crude drawings of appropriate foods), and try to be quiet. We don't want the neighbors complaining again."

"TV?" a goblin asked.

"Yes, but not too loud. And no Gremlins films," she said firmly.

The last time the group had watched Gremlins, they proceeded to act like gremlins and trashed Sarah's apartment while she was at work. Not only did she have to deal with the mess after an 11-hour work day, she also had to assure the downstairs neighbors that, no she wasn't having a keg party.

"Yay!" the goblins squealed and ran into her living room.

Gathering her coat that was only mildly chewed on (by goblin or cat, she didn't know), scarf and mittens- Sarah was out the door.

* * *

"Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells," Sarah turned up the car radio. An instrumental version of "Jingle Bells" was one. She loved everything about the Christmas season- the lights, smells, decorations, food… and yes, even presents.

Feeling particularly happy, Sarah indulged in singing. She knew her key was off and that she probably sounded like a dying moose, but she didn't care. It's not like anybody else could hear her.

"Jingle Bells, Batman smells- Robin lays an egg," she belted.

"Batmobile lost its wheel and the Joker got awa- AHHH!"

Sarah never finished her song because the Goblin King popped into the seat next to her with his accompanying cloud to glitter.

"Don't do that!" she yelled at him, "You could have gotten me killed." She started coughing as she inhaled some of the glitter cloud.

"Sarah," I would never let anything happen to you. He patted her thigh reassuringly. "Besides, I dropped by and you weren't home. The goblins said you were at the store." His voice sounded different. Deeper if possible.

She stopped at a light and looked around to see if anybody had noticed that her singularly occupied car, now had two occupants. Didn't look like it.

"You hate grocery shopping. What's wrong?" She looked at him. His hair was less puffy, nose was red and runny, eyes swollen. She quickly removed a mitten and felt his forehead- he felt warmer than usual. "Ah."

He gave a surprisingly dignified sniffle. "It's not that bad."

"Your forehead is warm," she slid her hand to his cheek, "and you're clammy." The light turned green and she started driving again. "You're sick, Jareth, is that why you came to see me?"

He didn't immediately reply so she stole a glance at him. He was fiddling with her mitten in his lap.

"Jareth?"

"It's been a very long time since I've been sick," he sneezed. "The last time was around the French Revolution… and well…" he sneezed again. Wiping his drippy nose on his sleeve, he continued. "I remember my mother fussing over me… giving me beggar's stew, reading books, tucking me in… and."

She came to another stoplight. "You want me to take care of you, huh?"

Jareth gave her a watery smile and sneezed again.

* * *

Sarah pulled the spare blanket out of the trunk of her car and wrapped it around his shoulders. Leaving the car to idle, she darted inside the store.

Her original list had been much longer but seeing as how there was an invalid in her car, she scrapped all but the necessities. Gatorade, a couple of TV dinners to tide her over until she could come back, soup for him, crackers, aspirin and… she wandered up and down the cold and flu aisle. How would a Fae react to modern Aboveground medicine? She knew he took aspirin for the occasional headache or sore back but that's all she'd ever see him take. What if he had an allergic reaction?

Deciding to keep it simple, and not overload his system with too much, she decided to stick with aspirin and Benadryl to dry out his drippy nose.

On the way to the register she grabbed a box of tea and a few fresh lemons.

Packing her purchases in the trunk she got in her car. "Ugh!" She huffed. It was like a sauna in there. While waiting Jareth had cranked up the heater. He looked dazedly at her and when she felt his forehead again, it was much, much warmer than before.

"Oooh, you're burning up! Come on, let's get you home."

As soon as they were through her front door, Sarah dumped her groceries and ushered Jareth to her bed. "Guys, put the food away, please." Working as one, the goblins formed an assembly line passing the items along.

Taking JC's makeshift poncho off, she shooed him off the coverlet. Jareth sank gratefully onto the mattress with the intention of lying down until she told him to wait. Digging through her closet, she pulled out an oversized men's t-shirt and sweatpants, "'Dad left these here after a visit last winter," she explained. "Put them on; they're clean."

Robotically, Jareth started peeling his clothes off and tossing them on the floor. She could see that they were soaked with sweat. While he was busy with that she went into the kitchen and grabbed the aspirin, Benadryl, and a glass of water.

Shuffling back to her bedroom, Sarah saw that he was already passed out on top of her sheets. "Jareth," she said shaking his shoulder, "you have to take this and then you can sleep. You have a fever."

He mumbled but didn't stir.

Setting the items on her nightstand, Sarah was barely able to pull him into a sitting position. "Hey, mighty Goblin King- I wish you would wake up, right now."

That did it. He woke muttering to himself about 'babies.'

"No, not babies. Medicine- here." She handed him the pills and helped him drink the water. "There you go." She helped him lie back down and tucked the blanket from the foot of the bed around him.

He looked peaceful and still handsome even though he was obviously sick. Not at all like the intimidating baby snatching Goblin King she had first encountered over 7 years ago. He had only been back in her life for the last two years and it happened quite suddenly. He wasn't in her life, then he was. They never talked about her Running and winning his Labyrinth, in fact, they acted like it had never happened, and a friendship was forged.

It wasn't until they had started sleeping together that she worked up the nerve to ask him why he had come back. "I was lonely Sarah, and you are the only person I've ever felt any connection with." He paused for a moment before asking, "What took you so long to ask?"

She played with a bit of his hair that become tangled during their nocturnal activities. "I didn't want to rock the boat. Or upset things. I was happy with the way our friendship was."

"And?" he took her own lock of dark hair and started fiddling with it.

"Well, we've been literally rocking the boat for weeks now. Good time as any, right?"

"Not that. Are you happy now. With us?"

She smiled and kissed him on the mouth. "Yes."

* * *

Leaving him to sleep Sarah went to make sure the goblins had put away the food, and not just eaten it. They had for the most part- the cold stuff was in the right places at least. Rearranging the rest, she went to sit on the couch. It would be at least 30 minutes before she could check to see if his fever had broken.

JC came darting past in hot pursuit of a goblin who was shrieking gleefully. A second goblin was perched on his back riding him like one would a miniature horse, which JC didn't seem to mind.

"MRROW." He cried as he stalked his prey. "MRROW" and pounce! He caught the creature between his front paws and proceeded to groom him. Sarah laughed at their antics. The two creatures got along rather well given they were from two different worlds. JC adopted them as fellow cats; and they adopted him as an honorary goblin. (And for some reason, they enjoyed being groomed).

The rest of the goblins were huddled in front of her TV watching an old Tom & Jerry cartoon. Settling into the arm of the couch, Sarah dozed.

* * *

An hour later Jareth woke up. Where was he? Why were his clothes itchy? What was this thing on his chest- he felt like he couldn't move. Opening his bleary eyes, he focused on a mountain of fuzz in front of him. "JC," he croaked. Seeing as how the Goblin King was in his bed, JC felt that the only thing to do was to sleep on top of him. (Him being incredibly warm was a plus).

"Move," Jareth pushed the feline off his chest. Ah, better. He could breathe. Now remembering where he was (Sarah's apartment) and why (he was sick), but he still couldn't figure out why his clothes were itchy. Standing up he shuffled over to her floor-length mirror seeing NYU printed boldly across his chest. "NYU, the heck is NYU?" Deciding not to dwell on it, he focused on how he was feeling. Better, definitely better than before, however his feet were cold. Feeling able to perform a little magic he conjured a crystal and let it drop on his feet. "Ah, better."

But where was his Sarah? He found her asleep on the living room couch with the goblins piled on the floor in front of her- also asleep.

He gazed at her lovingly. She was his- after all this time, and all it took was that beast attacking his… person. He winced at the memory; it was extremely painful. And humiliating, but it led him to where he was now, and for that, he wouldn't change things.

Jareth sneezed waking them. "Mmm…? Oh, you're awake," Sarah said as she sat up and stretched. "Are you feeling better?" She got up and checked his forehead. "No temp- that's good." She let her hand slide down caressing his cheek. "Would you like something to eat?"

"Sure."

"Okay I'll make soup. Make yourself comfortable."

He sat in her empty spot on the couch and watched the goblins who were now sitting in a circle playing cards. It looked like a crude form of poker. They were betting cat treats. "Sarah, did you teach them this?"

She looked up from the pot she was stirring. "Yes. I think you were at a big and important meeting or counsel, session or something. I got bored."

Huh, he didn't know they were smart enough to play cards.

Soon the smell of chicken noodle soup filled the apartment making his mouth water. Just as soon as he could bear it no longer, Sarah called "ready," and he proceeded to her dining room table.

As soon as his feet went from carpet to hardwood, a loud **Squeak… squeak** sounded **.** He forgot they did that. **Squeak… squeak.** JC's eyes opened from his position on the back of the couch. "Don't you dare," Jareth said quickly pointing a finger at the cat. That was the last thing he needed.

"Jareth, what's that squeaking?" Sarah asked filling his bowl with soup as he sat down.

He grinned playfully. "Look."

She bent under her side of the table and looked. Back when they were just friends, she had given him a pair of white owl slippers as a silly Christmas present.

She sat up grinning back. "I never thought you'd wear those."

He spooned a bit of soup into his mouth and swallowed. The warmth feeling good. "I love everything that has to do with you Sarah, including squeaking owl slippers." He leveled his empty spoon at her. "However, if you tell anyone about these, I'll tip you into the Bog."

Mirroring his stance and seriousness she retorted "And I'll rub myself Bog and all- all over everything you own. Especially on your favorite pair of pants. They'll stink forever."

"Forever's not that long." He dabbed at his still red nose with a napkin.

"Long enough."

* * *

AN: Jareth and Sarah are not mine. They belong to Jim Henson and Co. Not betaed- all errors are mine.

AN2: I might continue this, I might not...


	2. Chapter 2

AN: I couldn't really leave Jareth all sick and miserable, could I?

* * *

It was the indigent squawk that woke her. Sarah held still for a moment, letting the sleep clear from her mind. It dawned on her that she was on her couch. Why was she on the couch again? A sneeze and a groan emitted from her bedroom. _'Jareth,_ ' her mind supplied. It had been two days since he came to her and asked her to take care of him. Sarah groaned as she sat up- pushing the blankets aside. Even though her couch was lovely looking, it wasn't the best thing to sleep on.

She stood, stretched- hearing the joints in her back pop, and pulled her fluffy bathrobe over her flannel pajamas- it was freezing in here. "Heater must be out again," she muttered as she padded towards her bedroom. Stopping on the way, she fiddled with the thermostat and gave a grateful sigh when after a few minutes, hot air started pouring from the vents.

Another sneeze and squawk made Sarah resume her journey towards her bedroom. "Jareth?" She called out into the darkened room, poking her head inside. She couldn't see anything. "Jareth?" She flicked on the light switch, illuminating the room, and empty bed in light. Where was he? She could have sworn that the noises were coming from here. An owl feather flitted through the air, catching her eye, as did the fine sheen of glitter floating in the breeze caused by the hot air flowing from the vent.

"Jareth?" She questioned one last time, stepping into the room cautiously. Another indigent squawk made her look down. An extremely bedraggled looking barn owl peered up at her- only its eyes weren't the dull black of a true owl, no they were his eyes. His mesmerizing mismatched eyes. This wasn't good. Sarah had seen Jareth transform from man to owl many times, and everything transformed- including his eyes. ' _He must be having a relapse_ ,' she worriedly thought.

She reached down to stroke the owl, when it gave a violent sneeze, causing a cloud of glitter and feathers to boil up around it. When they receded, Jareth stood before her looking miserable. "Jareth," Sarah said slowly. Trying to think of what to do- how to help. She had never seen him transform unwillingly before. He tried to smile at her but instead sneezed again.

This sneeze started a quick succession of sneezes; each one forcing his body to take a different form.

 ***Sneeze*** \- Owl.

 ***Sneeze*** \- Jareth in full Goblin King regalia.

 ***Sneeze*** \- Jareth in a frothy white shirt with grey breeches.

 ***Sneeze*** \- Ludo stood before her.

 ***Sneeze*** \- A goat with wild white blonde fur.

 ***Sneeze*** \- Jareth… only it wasn't Jareth as she knew him. He had cropped hair, colored shockingly bright red, and he was wearing a teal suit- eyes made up in the same garish color. She tilted her head curiously. ' _What..?_ '

 ***Sneeze*-** Owl again… then pause. She looked around the room, glitter, feathers, and bits of fabric swirled around alighting on every surface.

Just as Sarah felt it safe to creep forward to see if he was okay. He sneezed once more. However, when the glitter and feather cloud receded this time, she was looking at herself- in a wedding dress. It was beautiful, she was beautiful. Hair pulled up in a tasteful chignon- a fingertip veil graced her mahogany tresses. An off-white gown hugged and accentuated her curves. Crystal encrusted lace encased the sweetheart neckline, the material continued to flow down her hips and out into a mermaid style skirt.

She gasped and clutched at the door frame as she stared at living image herself- correct in every detail, except for the eyes- the eyes staring out of her face were his. What did it mean? Was a fluke- a byproduct of the cold? Or was it something else? Before she could voice any questions, she… he scrunched up his nose in the tell-tell sign of an upcoming sneeze.

Sarah tensed waiting to see what would happen next. He sneezed- only this time, instead of being surrounded in a cloud of glitter, Jareth slowly started to change back into himself. Sarah watched as her hair fell loose about her shoulders, lightened into his blonde, then shrinking into her... his skull like the string of a pull toy retracting into itself.

Her womanly curves melted into his angular frame, legs stretching lifting the gown off the floor with the growth spurt, showing his bare feet. Her face paled and cheekbones sharpened and became higher- forming into his.

And the dress, the beautiful dress faded from his body, leaving him stark naked. Jareth heaved a great sigh- one of someone who was beyond exhausted, and promptly passed out onto her floor, sending a cloud of, feathers, glitter, and pieces of fabric swirling up around him.

Sarah stood there in shock. The whole ordeal must have taken no more than a minute… maybe two. She watched as the debris settled once more. Looking down at him, she saw a thin sheen of sweat coating his body. Bits of this and that sticking to him- she couldn't just leave him there. What if he started sneezing again? Something must be irritating his sinuses. She had to get him out of here and cleaned up.

Walking over and kneeling next to him, she shook him. "Jareth, come one- we have to get you up." He stirred slightly. "Yes, come on. I'll draw you a bath, get you clean, then back to…" she eyed the messy room and tugged at his hands, "bed somehow." She peeled his pendant off his chest and placed it on the nightstand next to her bed.

Jareth sat up slowly. "But I don't want a bath, Mummy," he whined. Sarah stopped her tugging and looked at him. She quickly felt his forehead for another fever- thankfully, there was none. ' _He must be delirious from all the shape-shifting,_ ' she quickly reasoned. Sarah put on her best no-nonsense face. The same face she used on Toby numerous times.

"None of that whining, Mr. You are to have a bath." She stood and helped him get to his feet.

"Hmmph," Jareth pouted. She turned with his hand in hers, and started towards the hall. He wouldn't budge.

"Jareth," she turned back to him and cupped his face in between her hands- forcing him to look at her. She could tell, though, that he was looking at her without seeing her- almost as if he was looking through her. "It's a… magical bath," she said playing along. "You don't feel good, do you?" She plucked a few feathers from his fine hair.

"No," he admitted.

"This will help you feel better. I promise." She successfully led him to the door.

"Story?" Jareth asked, hope filling his voice.

Sarah looked back at him. "Yes, after your bath, I'll read you a story." Jareth grinned at her.

* * *

"There you go- just relax." Sarah watched as Jareth lowered himself into the steaming water. Rooting around under the sink, Sarah withdrew an empty plastic cup, a small blue jar, and a fluffy towel. Setting the towel and the jar on top of the toilet seat, she knelt beside the tub and started wetting his hair- one cupful at a time.

"About knights," Jareth said turning his face towards Sarah. "I want a story about knights, Mummy."

Sarah paused in her work and sighed. Tonight, was really messing with her head. First seeing herself in a wedding dress, now Jareth thinking she was his 'Mummy'. Sarah figured it would be at least a month before she would be ready to sleep with him again. Maybe longer.

She grabbed a bottle of shampoo and poured some into one palm. She plastered a smile on her face and started washing his hair. "Yes, I'll tell you a story about knights."

Quickly finishing up with his hair, Sarah took a washcloth, lathered it, and worked on his arms, chest, back, and legs. The water in the tub was slowly becoming opaque with the remains of his transformations washing off him. "Jareth, stay right here. I'll be right back."

Sarah stuck her head out of the bathroom door. "Skeet, Popple! Come here." Two goblins scurried across Sarah's apartment and into the steamy room. "Stay here and watch the Goblin King. Make sure he doesn't drown. I'll be right back."

"Yes, Lady," they said settling down to watch.

She dashed back into her room. How was she going to clean this? Ugh- it was everywhere. Thinking quickly, she dove into her walk-in closet, started opening boxes, and dumping their contents out.

Not too long after Jareth had reappeared in Sarah's life, he had gifted her with a small crate (no bigger than a shoe box really) of cleaning crystals. This was his solution to her complaining about how he left her apartment sparkling in a fine coat of glitter with each of his visits. He demonstrated, by palming a crystal, turning it once, and tossing it up until it almost hit her ceiling. At its peak, it burst and wiped all traces of grime, dust, and glitter from her entire abode.

Sarah thought it was marvelous, until she tried one on her own, and found that in addition to removing uncleanliness, it also removed half of her underwear drawer. This extra bit of cleaning earned Jareth an earful since they had only been friends at the time and "friends don't steal friends' underwear."

"Ah-ha!" She cried out triumphantly. Grabbing a crystal, Sarah ran out into the middle of her room, and mimicked the move Jareth had shown her. Taking a moment, she marveled at the instantaneous change. It had even made her bed for her. Sarah pulled back the blankets and sniffed them delicately, expecting them to smell of sick male. Instead they smelled like sunshine and a warm breeze.

Satisfied, she went back to the bathroom to get Jareth. Skeet and Popple- true to their word, were actively watching Jareth, who was playing with the glittery water by scooping it up in the cup and pouring over the washcloth which was sitting on his bent knees. Enjoying the odd behavior of their King, the goblins were happily licking at an open tube of toothpaste and laughing.

"Hey, stop that." Sarah swiped the tube out of their grubby little hands and tossed it into the trash bin next to the sink. Grumbling to themselves, the goblins scurried off to other parts of the apartment.

"Come on Jareth," Sarah spread the towel out in front of her. "How about we get you dry and into bed?"

"Story?" He stopped playing in the water.

"Yes, story," she concurred

* * *

Drying him off, Sarah walked him back to the clean bedroom. Helping him into a pair of silk sleep pants, she stopped him before he fully laid on the bed. "Hold on," she opened the blue jar that she grabbed from the bathroom. It was Vicks VapoRub. Horrible smelling stuff, but she had always felt better the next day. And, she hoped, it would clear his sinuses and quell his sneezing.

"Icky," Jareth commented at the smell.

"Yes, icky," Sarah agreed. "But it'll make you feel better." Scooping out a glob of the stuff, she rubbed it on his chest and back, and then put one of her oversized sleep t-shirts on him. "Feet," she commanded, and he obediently put his bare feet into her lap. She rubbed a measured amount onto his feet and covered them in thick socks.

"You can lie down now, Jareth," she instructed getting off the bed. He pulled back the covers and nestled underneath them. He looked exhausted. "Oh, here," she had almost forgot. Dabbing a tiny bit onto her finger she rubbed it on his upper lip, right underneath his nose. She knew from past experiences, that the medicine would make him feel warm, and drowsy.

Wiping her hands on his used towel, Sarah perched on the bed next to him. "Okay, story time"

Jareth grinned sleepily and snuggled even deeper into the covers.

"Once, there was a knight with wild blonde hair and mismatched, piercing eyes…"

Sarah didn't even get to the part about the knight's quest before Jareth softly started snoring. She brushed a strand of hair off his face, and rose to leave, but was stopped at Jareth's touch. "Thank you… Sarah," he whispered, looking into her eyes. This look was different than the one before. Sarah could tell that he was looking at her- truly seeing her.

She leaned down and kissed his forehead. "You're welcome."

* * *

The early morning light sifted through the gossamer curtains in Sarah's bedroom waking Jareth. He sat up and stretched, scratching his chest. He felt… good. Really good, in fact. Ugh, except that he was greasy all over. Peeling the shirt off his chest, Jareth looked down at himself, he was covered in some sort of oily residue that smelled of menthol.

Confused, he wracked his brain. The last thing he remembered was that he had a cold, sought Sarah out, she fed him soup, and then he fell asleep (unfortunately, alone) in her bed. But that was it. Glancing over at her nightstand, he saw his sickle shaped pendant sitting on top. "How'd you get there?" He wondered as he put it on.

Stuffing his sock clad feet into his squeaking owl slippers, he went in search of her. She was asleep on the couch under a mountain of blankets, with JC, curled up on top of her head. Here and there, a few goblins were snuggled up against Sarah's legs, the small of her back, and one was even clutched in her arms like a surrogate teddy bear. "Lucky bastard," Jareth muttered. He couldn't stay mad at them though, since they loved Sarah. All of them, from the giant rock callers, to the tiny blue worms- every denizen of the Labyrinth loved her- himself included.

Jareth smiled at the sleeping woman. He wordlessly spun a crystal in his hand and looked at the image it held inside. It was a small box sitting in his study. And inside that box, was an engagement ring. He wasn't planning on asking anytime soon- since they had just started dating and he was enjoying himself, and the unhurried pace of their relationship.

But someday- someday he would ask, and he hoped above all else, that when that time came, she would say yes. Why, he could almost picture her in her wedding gown.

* * *

Disclaimer: Jareth and Sarah are not mine. They belong to Jim Henson and Co.

AN: Not betaed- all errors are mine.

Questions, thoughts, comments?


End file.
